State of the "Society"

Crazy for Crotons

Crazy for Crotons

Well-Known Member
2,050
29/06/09
8
78
south Tampa, Bokeelia
Is anyone spearheading an attempt to bring back the Croton Society? We can continue this online gathering place but a society in the traditional sense would be nice. What we have now resembles the US Treasury. It prints worthless money with no gold backing to provide any value. We've done great online but have no name to give us credibility. I have a feeling we're not connecting with other croton people out there. We've become an isolated group of 10-20 with a few lurkers. I'm not saying I have the answer but we should kick this around again.
 
I have thrown out multiple suggestions multiple times. And even briefly discussed the issue with the MooseMan on the phone a couple of days ago. Right now this is basically a Florida group. I would like to see it extended worldwide via the web. Sales/auctions could be held online. Video sharing of meetings could be shared online. A newsletter could be distributed online - etc.
 
Hi I'm From Darwin down under and Reckon this site is Awsome, Just goes to show what a great society you have and how you all share your thoughts and opinions on Crotons, They are the best colour plant apart from cordylines or T's as you call them, I hope to get a collection close to some of those seen on this site, I have about 30 types. Most have come from cuttings. I will post some picks soon.
Cheers
Shane
 
Topender - welcome aboard. Look forward to seeing some pics from down under.

Rick - "..if everyone else does.." - highly, highly unlikely. In just about every group, club, or society I have joined, the 10% rule seems to apply, i.e., 10% of the members do 90%+ of the work. This includes anything from professional societies, philatelic societies and clubs, hobby clubs, civic groups, and plant societies. With only a small pool of candidates in the croton world, we burn out the 10% rather soon with few remaining volunteers. If I had a quick and easy solution, I'd be marketing it and probably make a bundle in the process.
Any one else with any thoughts, ideas,.....
 
Assembling a newsletter is the easy part. It can be done with any word processor. The tough part is printing it and mailing it. Sure, you can build a fancy .pdf and have members download and print it at home, but why would anyone spend the time and paper to do that? You can read it online, but again, it's just not the same as having a printed journal arrive in your mailbox.

No one is going to pay money (dues) for pixels; they want paper.

As far as the Society is concerned... we seem to be functioning quite well without it. There have been at least three major Croton meetings since its demise. Varieties are being grown, sold, traded at the same pace as before except now, the growers are keeping the profits instead of giving them away to some mysterious society that was unable at any time to justify its own books.
 
I'm just glad to have found you all. I don't think there is any interst in Crotons in Hawaii. People here give me weird looks when I tell them I collect Crotons and often ask "why?" The general attitude here is if it's not Mammy, Norma or Petra, why bother. It's very disheartening given what can be grown here.
 
andymaycen said:
I'm just glad to have found you all. I don't think there is any interst in Crotons in Hawaii. People here give me weird looks when I tell them I collect Crotons and often ask "why?" The general attitude here is if it's not Mammy, Norma or Petra, why bother. It's very disheartening given what can be grown here.
Click to expand...

That's a shame. Because like any family of plants, once you start finding and collecting new ones, it gets really fun and interesting finding new ones. Especially hard to find ones from Dr Frank Brown's book. Don't give up!
 
"We're" functioning just fine but there are many others "we're" not reaching. "We've" become the Florida Croton Society and that's not what "we're" supposed to be about.

People will pay for pixels if the content is worth a damn.
 
Microsoft publisher, which is what the Society used and is the format that professional printers want. In my view (having worked with it for years) it is better than Word or other word processing programs, because it offers greater flexibility and is easier to work with re: graphics and other layouts.
 
Crotonologist said:
Shouldn't we at least edit this page?:
http://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/THE_CROTON_SOCIETY
It still lists the former mission statement of the defunct society as well as the last officers, all as if the society is still functioning...
There is even an active link to a membership form to join the society...
I'll volunteer to update the page if everyone is cool with that...
Click to expand...

Its asleep, not dead. Let it lie in my opinion.
 
This is certainly a move in the right direction.
In order to grow a group/ society such as this, the focus has to be one of ‘global involvement’ and not just regional.
Because involvement in crotons is such an elaborate hobby, the resource base of persons with interest will be a mere handful.
Global participation is easier said than done, now we’re talking about having effectively a cyber society.....
 
I agree with Allan, and I think the Society page should be edited to reflect an international approach, sort of an open forum "society" open to all with no membership dues (so no printed newsletter) at present.
Letting it lie, well, that's what the Society page here is doing now, in a literal sense...
 
Note that anyone who is registered on the Wiki can edit that page. In fact anyone can edit or add any page on the Wiki if they are registered. That is what a Wiki is. No permission is needed, although some consensus would be advisable. Several people can work on it. There are some links to old officer's email addresses, etc. that should probably be edited out.

There is no better format than the internet to encourage a "Cyber Society." And the more tricks like tagging, link backs, etc. you can move your exposure up on Google rankings. That way when someone searches for a croton, your name and pages will come up. And here when someone searches for palms and plants in general they are directed here, since we are moving up on the rankings. Just by coming here they are exposed to Crotons and your little group. You should take advantage of it. That is the way you catch people and get them to join up.
 
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